


Every Hunter has a First Case

by Quinny_555



Series: Every Hunter [4]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, BAMF Emily Prentiss, Ghosts, Hunter Emily Prentiss, Hunter Spencer Reid, Hurt Spencer Reid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25030195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinny_555/pseuds/Quinny_555
Summary: “Well, I know we just got back from a case yesterday, but you said to tell you next time I was going on a hunt, so…” He trailed off and she perked up.“When and where?”OrEmily goes on her first real hunt.
Relationships: Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid
Series: Every Hunter [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789804
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72





	Every Hunter has a First Case

Prentiss’s phone rang, and she sighed. The team had just gotten back from one of their longer cases and she had a sneaking suspicion that this was not going to be a social call. 

“Prentiss,” she answered professionally. 

_“Hey, uh, it's Reid,”_ he said, and she smiled. 

“What's up?” She asked. 

_“Well, I know we just got back from a case yesterday, but you said to tell you next time I was going on a hunt so…”_ He trailed off and she perked up. 

“When and where?” She asked, excited to finally be going on a hunt. He had been teaching her about all sorts of supernatural creatures: what was true and what was bullshit, how to handle weapons that she wasn't familiar with, signs that certain creatures left behind. She was ready for some action. 

_“Meet at my place in an hour,”_ he said. After she hung up, she realized that she never asked _what_ they were hunting. 

~~~ 

“Bobby called me about a possible vengeful spirit a couple of towns over,” Reid explained as they walked to her car. “A woman he helped a few years back just moved into a new house, says that she sees a man glaring at her from the doorway sometime before he flickers out of existence. Things fall over a lot, though he hasn't gotten violent towards her yet, she doesn't want to take any chances.” 

“Huh,” she said as she pulled the buckle over her chest. As far as she was aware, a case like this was unusual. People don't normally ask for help from hunters. 

“I've already done some research on the house's previous owners,” he continued as he maneuvered the car out of its parking spot. “Three women have died in that house, and two men.” Prentiss raised an eyebrow. 

“I take it the house is old?” She wagered. 

“Very,” he muttered. They talked about the case for a while longer before Prentiss turned on the radio. Looking out the window on the second hour of the drive, something occurred to her. 

“Why don't you ever drive when we’re at work?” She asked, turning to face him. As far as she could tell, he wasn't a bad driver. 

“Um, well, for one, I don't want to be the one driving if we ever get into a car chase,” he said, and Prentiss nodded. That, of course, made sense. 

“What's your other reason? It can't be that you're bad at it, because you're not.” He shrugged. 

“I prefer to have my hands free when I'm with the team on a case,” he explained, and Prentiss frowned. 

“Why is that different here?” She asked, and he coughed a little. 

“It's just that… okay, before I get into this, I need to explain something about hunters. We see everyone who doesn't know about the supernatural as civilians. Even federal officers. So I always felt like it was my job to protect you from the things you didn't know about. If something were to happen, like one of you being possessed while we were on the road, it would be much harder for me to do something about it if I were driving,” he explained sheepishly. “Well, now you know, so I know you could deal with anything supernatural if need be.” 

“Huh,” she said after a pause. It made sense if she thought about it, really. She sometimes felt the same way about actual civilians. It was silent for the rest of the drive, save for the soft classical music playing. Both occupants of the vehicle were lost in thought and felt no need to break the silence. 

~~~ 

“How often do you guys have to do this?” Emily panted, reaching up to wipe the dirt and sweat from her face. 

“More than anyone would like,” Reid responded, just as breathless. He stuck his shovel into the dirt once more and shoveled it out of the grave. While his body was used to the strain that digging caused, it was never actually _easy_. “You know, we are lucky that graves are no longer six feet deep. The minimum requirement nowadays in most states is eighteen inches of soil between the coffin and the top of the grave. If there is no coffin, the requirement turns to two feet, but people are seldom if ever buried without a coffin-” he cut himself off when his shovel hit something hard. His grin was manic and he looked up at Emily. 

“Jackpot.” 

The grave was old and the coffin was made of wood. Emily helped Spencer break it open. There was little resistance. Well, from the wood, anyways. Reid glanced behind his partner, eyes widening a fraction as he shouted a warning. 

“Reid!” Prentiss yelled as he went flying. He hit the ground and Prentiss heard him groan. “Are you okay?” all she got was another moan in response. She was tempted to go to him, but she refrained, quickly turning back to the task at hand. Burning the bones would help him more than anything she could do for him right now. Lighter and gasoline in hand, she got to work. 

Reid forced his aching body off of the ground, noting the unpleasant throbbing at the back of his skull. On shaky legs he stumbled to where his shotgun was, only to be blocked by the ghost appearing in front of him. Its fingers wrapped around his throat in an icy grip and all air was expelled from his lungs. He kicked out, knowing it was useless but unwilling to stop the instinctual reaction. The cold was suddenly replaced with searing heat and he fell backward and away from the screaming ghost. He squinted at the bright flames, letting himself lean against the gravestone behind him.

Prentiss was dumping gasoline when she heard a choked gasp. She looked up to see the spirit had Reid by the throat. She quickly climbed out of the grave and threw the lighter down into the hole. The ghost screamed as fire engulfed it. It was over as quickly as it started and she shook herself. Reid just laid there, gasping for air as Prentiss approached him. 

“Jesus Christ, Reid, are you okay?” she asked. He managed a nod and winced. 

“Are there bruises?” he rasped. 

“What- yeah, why?” 

“We have to go into work in a few days. There is no way I can pass these off as me being clumsy,” the second part was muttered to himself as he tried to think of a way to hide them without being obvious. She reached out a hand to help him up and he accepted it gratefully. He started brushing himself off, disgusted at how dirty he was. Prentiss laughed and Reid raised an eyebrow at her. 

“This is just- so surreal,” she explained. “I-I just killed a ghost, after spending like four hours digging a grave.” saying it out loud somehow made it more real and she laughed hysterically. “And-and you being worried about the dirt, or whatever, is just so _you_. Not like hunter you, but… _you_.” Once she started, she felt like she couldn't stop, and somehow Reid wound up joining in. Their laughter filled the night, but it was soon accompanied by the sound of some sort of off-road vehicle. Reid cut himself off abruptly upon hearing it. 

“Emily, do you hear that?” he whispered. She nodded, both of them realizing what it was at the same time. 

“Oh, shit,” she whispered back. She stood and helped him up. They both threw their supplies back into the duffle hastily. Emily didn't even bother to zip it shut before she hoisted it up over her shoulder. Reid could now see the beam of a torch, and it was way too close for comfort. He did the math and figured out that they had about thirty seconds to be out of the open if they wanted to avoid being caught. There were a few trees scattered around, but none of them were close enough to be convenient. Making a split-second decision, he grabbed Emily’s hand and took off running. She didn't hesitate to follow him; he was the pro here, after all. They dipped low behind a large gravestone belonging to someone named Jim. They watched as an older gentleman approached the already dying fire carefully. 

“What the fresh Hell?” he muttered and looked around suspiciously. He adjusted his coat and grumbled something as he pulled out a cellphone. 

“He’s probably calling the police,” Prentiss murmured. 

“Yeah, we better get out of here.” Reid agreed. “I'd rather we not have to explain to Hotch why we were desecrating a grave on our day off.”

They sneaked and stayed in the shadows all the way to the car, not willing to risk being caught. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief once they were shut safely inside the car. 

“Do you guys usually almost get caught?” She asked once they were on the road. Reid snorted. 

“No, but we also don't usually sit by the grave and laugh, either.” This response was met with a quiet chuckle. 

“Yeah, I guess you wouldn't.” They were silent for a moment after that. 

“Are you okay?” he asked eventually. She opened her mouth to brush off his concern, before pausing. She thought about it. 

“...I think I am, actually,” she told him, and she meant it. 

“Well, good. I'd hate to lose my new favorite hunting partner,” he smiled shyly at her. Yeah, she’d hate to lose this, too. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have to say that I absolutely adore Reid and Prentiss's friendship. It's just a fun dynamic and it's nice that they tend to treat each other as equals imo. And Prentiss is definitely the hunter type lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading, leaving kudos, or commenting! :)


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